Markus + Micah

11 of my blog friends reimagined as plants

When you sit around with plants all day, you start to get ideas. Like how there are many ways to be a person and there are many ways to be a plant, too. I hope you don’t mind me speculating what happens to my blog friends in case they get reclassified into the wonderful Kingdom Plantae. Just harmless fun for the weekend.

What we do outside of the shadows

I brought the squad to the beach today…

What I eat in a day – healthy or naughty?

I love food. I am like Winnie The Pooh in this regard. If I am not eating it, I am thinking about it. Sharing food also gives me a lot of joy. Today, I thought I would share what I usually eat in a day – just simple homecooked meals from our small kitchen.

Breakfast

I like crepes and granola with fruit and yogurt, but lately, breakfast is a lot of bread since my youngest sister taught me how to bake bread. The Philippines is not known for its bread culture, unlike in Germany where access to good bread is a birthright.

In fact, you will be hard-pressed here to find bread with a crust or anything that does not contain sugar. Yes, even pandesal has sweet tones to it. I am still practicing my bread making skills but already it is infinitely nicer to have crispy, yeasty home-baked bread.

Lunch

We are in the thick of summer. It is so warm that anything other than a light lunch is impossible to eat. Because we have a tomato harvest, I often cook a fragrant 10-minute garden pasta. Another favorite is my banana blossoms vegetarian sandwich that has gone to the next level with the addition of home-baked bread.

I normally have my fruit with lunch, too. Sometimes it is just straightforward fruit but I also enjoy making my three ingredient mango frozen yogurt, especially because luscious mangoes are currently in season.

Dinner

I eat rice for dinner because I am Asian. It is so comforting and the following food coma helps with a good night’s sleep.

I have tofu in a slew of creative preparations, sometimes seafood caught by the small boats of the fishermen in our community (I can eat wild, sustainably caught seafood) and even cheesy nachos when I feel like snack for dinner because why not?

Dessert is always a treat – cakes, cookies, and all sorts of nice things. I am particularly in love with egg tarts, even if they take sometime to make, and some mornings I even eat a few for breakfast!

What do you usually eat in a day?

Touring my backyard, literally

Over the weekend, I managed to put in some work in further greening our backyard. Most of it is already teeming with plants but the wrought iron plant structure attached to the back of the tiny house has yet to receive some love.

It took three tries until I finally settled on a grouping that looked natural, lush, and textured. The color is mainly green and white and I am quite pleased with how it turned out.

Of course, it will become prettier in time as the plants grow more, assuming they enjoy their location. It should not be a problem – morning light floods the backyard and it is shaded for the rest of the day.

The wooden table and bench were built from reclaimed wood. We want another bench to complete it but we are still waiting for some material to magically come out of nowhere, as they usually do.

What do you think of our set up? It has become a favorite breakfast nook. Nothing like communing with nature to start a good day. Maybe one day we can sit with you here, too!

How are you going with your New Year’s resolutions?

Resolutions are not really my thing but reading all of your New Year’s resolutions in the beginning of the year made me think of what I wanted to do more of this 2021: to read more and eat more fruit.

Compared to my lofty aspirations the year before, which included have a property to potentially AirBnB and learn German, I was glad that my honest intentions for this year were simple but equally meaningful.

Time to evaluate progress after the first quarter of the year.

Tell me I am wrong

In a recent post on handling arguments, Ed mentioned that nobody likes being told they are wrong. I thought it was an interesting perspective because I do not mind others pointing out my mistakes. In fact, I welcome it, if not actively seek it.

The input helps me improve whatever it is I am trying to do. Maybe there is a better way or maybe I missed something. Often, I ask Markus what he thinks of my idea because I am pretty sure he has a better one.

On putting in the work.

You’ve gotta put in the work. We’ve all heard that phrase one time or another. You want nice things? Put in the work. You want a good life? Put in the work. You want things to change? Well, you guessed it – put in the work. Rarely have I seen a phrase so deeply misunderstood.

Show up to your thankless job every day, it seems to say. Work yourself to the bone, never complain, always do what you’re told. Sorry, but if this is what it means to put in the work, then I will choose oblivion every time.

Last sunset for our turtle friends

Did you know that turtles lift each other up? In a nest, the strongest hatchlings are on the bottom. With their eyes still closed, with no idea what sunshine is, they will push their brothers and sisters above so they can break through the sand and start their journey in life.

They will then make the climb themselves, sometimes days after everyone else is out, and brave the unknown that lies ahead in solitude. There is so much that we can learn from turtles. And from all of you, too, who have supported their comeback since December last year.

Thanks to your help, we have released 7,501 baby Olive Ridley turtles back into the sea from a total of 7,908 eggs that were laid along the coast of Pag-asa, Bagac, Bataan.

Oh, the things our books say about us

There was a time in my life when I devoured books. Think two, even three in a week. Amazing, right?

How did I do it? Depression masking as uncontrolled respiratory disease made it easy. I could not go anywhere, except to the hospital, so you could say I had time.

Of course, I amassed a number of books, most of which I have lost by now, either because I misplaced it, forgot it during my move, or gave it away. There are still some here though, a mix of favorites and mehs, the mehs curiously outnumbering the memorable ones.

How to not win arguments

Markus is the most intelligent person I know, if not the most considerate. With the grace of a calm sea, he can listen to anyone’s argument, restate all the points better than you did, and explain all the concepts you missed while reassuring you that he understands why you thought that way to begin with.

Oh, I hate his arguing skills.